It was an impressive performance by Moussa Diaby in a Les Bleus shirt: In the 8-0 victory for France against Kazakhstan, the Leverkusen player not only helped ensure qualification for the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar but also played a significant role on the pitch: Just one minute after coming off the bench, the 22-year-old appeared to have scored his first goal for the Equipe Tricolore but it was ruled out due to Kylian Mbappe being offside (73'). Shortly after that, he fed the ball through to the same superstar from Paris Saint-Germain for his fourth goal and the final strike in the 8-0 scoreline (87').
The next international for the French side is on Tuesday night, 16 November (kick-off: 20.45 CET) against Bayer 04 teammate Lukas Hradecky and his Finnish compatriots. However, the match is not crucial for the group leaders – Diaby and Co. are certain to finish top.
Lukas Hradecky with Finland secured an important 3-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday. In spite of being a man down after 37 minutes, the Eagle Owls, with an in-form Leverkusen goalkeeper, produced an impressive performance and moved up to second place in Group D with the win.
Finland need to get a result against France and Diaby on Tuesday to qualify for the World Cup and protect their place in the table against Ukraine. They play Bosnia-Herzegovina at the same time.
Edmond Tapsoba was in action with Burkina Faso on Friday. The game against Niger ended in a 1-1 draw. That means Tapsoba and Co. are second in Group A in the Africa World Cup qualifiers. The 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes. On Tuesday, 16 November (kick-off: 17.00 CET), Burkina Faso play the current group leaders Algeria.
Odilon Kossounou featured for the Ivory Coast on Saturday night. The 20-year-old also went the full distance and was able to celebrate a 3-0 win against Mozambique with his teammates. That puts the Ivory Coast top of Group D with 13 out of a possible 15 points from five games. The next match on Tuesday (kick-off: 20.00 CET) is against Cameroon who are currently in second place on 12 points.
Jonathan Tah (World Cup qualifier)
14.11, 18.00 CET, Armenia vs Germany, Yerevan
Lukas Hradecky (World Cup qualifier)
16.11, 20.45 CET, Finland vs France, Helsinki
Moussa Diaby (World Cup qualifier)
16.11, 20.45 CET, Finland vs France, Helsinki
Jeremie Frimpong (U21 Euro qualifier)
15.11, 14.00 CET, Gibraltar U21 vs Netherlands U21, Gibraltar
Amine Adli (U21 Euro qualifier)
16.11, 18.30 CET, Macedonia U21 vs France U21, Skopje
Exequiel Palacios (World Cup qualifier)
17.11, 00.30 CET, Argentina vs Brazil, San Juan
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifiers)
17.11., 01.15 CET, Chile vs Ecuador, Santiago de Chile
Edmond Tapsoba (World Cup qualifier)
16.11, 17.00 CET, Algeria vs Burkina Faso, Blida
Odilon Kossounou (World Cup qualifier)
16.11, 20.00 CET, Cameroon vs Ivory Coast, Yaoundé
Emrehan Gedikli (U19 Euro qualifier)
16.11, 14.00 CET, Greece U19 vs Germany U19, Nafpaktos
Iker Bravo (U19 Euro qualifier)
16.11, 18.00 CET, Belgium U19 vs Spain U19, Bissen
Zidan Sertdemir (U19 friendly)
16.11, 11.00 CET, Portugal U19 vs Denmark U19, Capital do Movel
In glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius, the Bayer 04 Women have begun their preparations for the new season. With a relaxed first session at the Kurtekotten training centre, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team became the first Bundesliga side to resume training after a 37-day break.
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Black and Red stand out. Under the slogan ‘Diversity under the Cross’, Bayer 04 took part in Pride on the Rhine at the weekend alongside the queer fan club “Bayer 04 Junxx”. The club mascot, Brian the Lion, and several members of staff were also in attendance, championing diversity and solidarity.
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Centre-back Melissa Friedrich is set to remain at Bayer 04 for another year. The longest-serving player in the squad, who joined the club in 2016, has extended her contract to 2027.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Portugal U21 international Afonso Moreira. The 21-year-old winger joins the club from French top-flight side Olympique Lyon on a contract to 30 June 2031. In France last year, the left-winger made 37 appearances in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the UEFA Europa League, scoring a total of eight goals and providing eleven assists.
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